Undetected water leaks in residential and commercial buildings can lead to extensive water damage to building structure. The cost of repairing the damage can extend well into the thousands of dollars if the water leaks are not detected in a timely manner. Because water leaks often occur out of sight and in discrete places like in walls, attics, behind cabinets, under floors, under appliances, or basements, accumulated water is often the only indication that a water leak is present. Undetected water leaks can also pose a health risk to occupants. Unresolved water leaks lead to the growth of hazardous mold, mildew, and fungus that can spread quickly to surrounding areas. Water leaks typically occur from a diversity of water sources including home appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers, water coolers, and dehumidifiers. Other sources of water leaks include leaking water pipes, faucets, hot water heaters, in-line water filters, and valves. Accumulated moisture or condensation generated from air conditioners or ventilation units can also be indicative of water leaks and thus, detecting moisture and condensation is also beneficial in water leak detection applications. Water leaks are often the result of aging appliances, deteriorating solder joints, improper piping or equipment installations, corrosion, or high-pressure water sources that impact joints and connections.
Property owners and businesses generally insure themselves against the possible damage due to water leaks; however, the sky rocketing costs of insurance premiums pose more of a challenge to owners having larger, residential or commercial buildings. Water leaks are particularly undesirable in residential dwellings and commercial buildings involving a large number of residential units, apartments, or offices. An undetected water leak in one apartment or office can quickly spread causing considerable damage to adjacent areas. Particularly in large residential buildings, often a number of residents are away on business, vacationing, or visiting family and friends, thereby leaving their apartment or condo unoccupied for days. Also, workers occupying commercial buildings typically retire for the day leaving their offices unoccupied at night. Any undetected water leaks can quickly flow through the walls, floors or ceilings of unoccupied areas and seep into adjacent areas, further damaging neighboring building structure, and expensive office equipment.
Central heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems include chillers. The chillers are generally located at an elevated location within or atop of a structure. Larger chillers are commonly cooled by flowing fluid or water therethrough. The fluid/water is fed into and from the chiller using high-pressure piping. One potential concern would be a water leak within the piping structure.
The clean-up costs associated with water leaks are often proportional to the amount of water that has accumulated over time. It typically costs more to remove a larger amount of water because the mass of water must be pumped out and completely removed from the localized area before any drying; repairing or reconstruction can be initiated. Response time is vital in implementing remedial measures to correct water leaks. A quick response in addressing water leaks helps mitigate and further prevent costly water damage to equipment, furniture, and to the structural building.
A number of water leak detection devices have been implemented to address the quick response time needed to detect water leaks. Some prior art devices include localized leak detection devices that are situated throughout various locations within a building to alert the presence of water. Such devices typically include a small housing enclosing both a water sensor and audible alarm. One drawback of such devices is that an individual observer must be in arms-length from the detecting device to hear the audible alarm, thus making it impractical for remotely monitoring water leaks. Other devices or systems include well-known closed-circuit type detectors including a receptacle for housing solid-state circuitry that is coupled to one or more sensors where the sensors include two probes or connectors. When water flows onto the probes or conductors, a closed electrical path is provided to produce an alert signal. Such devices make it extremely difficult to detect small amounts of water or moisture, and generally provide no point data indication, including the locations where the sensors are situated throughout the building.
More sophisticated water leak detection systems have been designed to meet the ongoing needs of efficiently monitoring and detecting water leaks. Such automated water detection systems generally include a controller having a number of status indicators, and a plurality of water detection sensors electrically connected to the controller. The status indicators generally include a plurality of light emitting diodes or LED segment blocks that provide a visual indication of the operative location of water sensors. These automated systems suffer a number of drawbacks. One drawback is the number of light emitting diodes needed to represent a larger number of sensors used for in a plurality of locations. For example, an apartment complex having multiple apartments would require a controller to include a numerous amount of status indicators to be able to monitor and detect appliances, pipes, and other water generating devices in each apartment, thus making it impractical, and expensive to construct and implement. Other automated systems incorporate additional monitoring features such as detecting smoke, radon, or carbon monoxide. These systems are expensive, complex, and require a great deal of time to integrate. Thus, conventional automated water leak detection systems are difficult to install, provide limited remote observation of conditions, and are limited in application. The known conventional automated water leak detection systems are not integrated or in continuous communication with into a remote supervised or monitored agency.
Accordingly, there remains in the art a need for a water leak detection system that is easy to install and integrate, provides exact point identification of water leak detection sensors, and is user friendly to operate. There is a further need in the art for a water leak detection system having centralized water detection control in remote communication with a central monitoring agency to provide continuous monitoring, immediate notification, and point identification data of water leaks.